Meteorites

What are meteorites?

Meteorites are rocks from Space which enter the Earth’s atmosphere and don’t completely burn up before landing on the surface. All meteorites come from within our Solar System. The vast majority of meteorites are rocky fragments from the asteroid belt, between the orbits of Jupiter and Mars. Radiometric dating shows nearly all meteorites formed about 4,500 million years ago, at the same time as the Solar System, including Earth. A few meteorites from Mars are younger. There are also meteorites derived from the Moon.

Two specimens of the Murchison meteorite which fell at Murchison, 80 km north of Melbourne, on the 29 September 1969. Murchison is a rare type of meteorite classified as a carbonaceous chondrite. Also featured, is a perfect flanged australite button from Port Campbell. Photographer: Frank Coffa / Source: Museum Victoria

What effects does a meteorite have on Earth?

Meteorites have been colliding with Earth since it formed. There have been many very large impacts in that time. Some of these may have caused major extinction of many life forms. The remains of several hundred very large meteorite impact craters can be seen today on very old parts of the Earth’s crust. In Australia, there are about 25 impact craters preserved.

Meteorites enter the Earth’s atmosphere travelling at more than 11 km per second. Frictional heating causes a fireball in the upper atmosphere. Small meteorites may burn up and large loosely bound meteorites may break up. Sonic booms and strange whistling, humming or crackling sounds may occur.

Meteorites can fall anywhere on Earth. Those falling into the oceans or in forests are hardly ever found. Meteorites seen to fall and collected immediately are known as falls; those found long afterwards are known as finds. Like all rocks, meteorites begin to weather on the surface due to reaction with water and oxygen. Eventually they break down and disappear into the soil.

How do you identify and classify meteorites?

Meteorites consist mainly of common minerals which are also found in rocks on Earth. However the proportions of these minerals, and the textures they form, are different to rocks found in the Earth’s crust. Sophisticated chemical comparisons must be made in order to identify Martian or Lunar meteorites. Meteorites are divided into three broad groups, stony, iron and stony-iron. Stony meteorites containing millimetre-sized spheres known as chondrules are called chondrites; those without are called achondrites. Within these broad groups there are many different classes of meteorites.

A meteorite name is chosen which is based on the nearest named location to where the meteorite was found. The data and name are sent to an international committee for appraisal. If they are approved, the meteorite is entered in an international catalogue.

Meteorites have great scientific interest, as they provide us with clues on the origin of the Solar System, as well as of planets like Earth. They also have a monetary value, as there are many meteorite collectors around the world who buy and trade meteorites.

Are meteorites protected?

Federal laws protect meteorites found in Australia and it is an offence to export one without a permit. In Western Australia and South Australia legislation means that meteorites are the property of the Government and must be lodged with an appropriate Museum. In other States, the finder is able to keep a meteorite.

Visitor Information

Museum Victoria has a collection of meteorites from around the world, including Australia and Victoria. Museum staff also conduct research on meteorites and provide an identification service.

Comments (39)

Hi Cece, most meteorites formed at the same time as earth. The majority come from the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter. A few are from other sources such as Mars and the Moon and have a younger age than those from the asteroid belt.

Hi Al, try the Australian Museum's meteors and meteorites site for information on the frequency of meteorite falls and the article 'Meteorites recovered from Australia' from the Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia, 79: 33-42, 1996 for a listing of 474 distinct and authenticated meteorites falls across Australia to that date, with an interesting map of the location of falls. More recent information can be found in the publication Catalogue of Meteorites 5th Edition 2000, by Monica M Grady.

I have been to Leonora, WA 4 times gold prospecting. I can no longer swing the big detector to find gold and would like to vacation there to look for meteorites in the Murchison Field. How may I obtain a permit that is needed to export meteorites. I do have a Miners Right.

Hi Bud, we suspect you will need a fossickers license/miners right in WA and Victorian licenses don't apply in WA.Your best bet is to contact the WA Department of Mines here for advice. In terms of exporting the meteorites they are governed by state legislation so again either the Department should be able to advise or they may suggest you contact the Curator at the WA Museum.

If your son does happen to find a meteorite you can bring it to the Discovery Centre at Melbourne Museum and we will assess the specimen, depending on the outcome our Geologists will discuss the next step in the process.

Good luck with your search!

Discovery Centre
13 March, 2012 10:36

Hi Daniel, our Geologist thinks this may be a dry dam as opposed to a crater.

You would need to be prepared to bring the specimen to us for physical examination, and also be happy to loan the specimen to the Museum for the purposes of identification, that is we wouldn't be able to give you an ID 'on the spot'.

In these cases the Discovery Centre issues you with a receipt that recognises you as the owner of the object/s, so the specimen will be entirely safe in our care while it is being identified, and we would advise you of the collection details from us once it has been identified.

Hope this helps

william sullivan
30 August, 2013 17:42

have located a large fall in nsw water catchment area, is it best to contact a museum and have then chart and record and settle for the finders fee

I read on page 18 of the September 2013 to February 2014 issue of your magazine "Six Months Museum Victoria" that you have acquired a Chelyabinsk meteorite.
This has caught the attention of my 9-year old son. Could you please tell me if this meteorite can be viewed?
Could you please also tell me the approximate dimensions of the fragment and the weight of the piece?
Thanks very much!

The specimen weighs 31 g and measures about 3 x 2.5 x 2 cm . The majority of fragments recovered are less than 200 g and more typically in the 50 g and under category. The meteorite is not currently on public display, but there are lots of other interesting meteorites on display in both Melbourne Museum's Dynamic Earth and at the foyer of the Planetarium at Scienceworks.

Hope this helps

Bob Meade
20 September, 2013 13:38

Thanks for that information. I appreciate the time you have taken to find an answer. Bob

Julien
13 October, 2013 00:22

I have found a rock I feel might be a meteorite. Its passed the Magnet test,and the scratch test on the under side of a ceramic tile. Where in melbourne can I get this tested and confirmed

Hi Julien, you can bring your specimen to the Discovery Centre which is located on the lower ground level of the Melbourne Museum. You will need to leave the object with us until our Geologist can examine it, (you will be issued with a receipt as proof you have left it with the Museum). The Centre is open from 10 until 4.30 from Tuesday through Saturday.

Jason Sawyer
22 January, 2014 21:09

Hello I was wondering if there are any maps of the murchison meteorite landing spot??? I would love to go hunting but I have no idea about the location. Thank you

Hello
I would like to prospect for meteorites in Victoria. I think I would need a Miners Right and I suspect the same conditions that apply to gold & gem fossicking apply to meteorites? Are there any other conditions or requirements that are special to meteorite finds?. I know about export regulations. Thanks Gavin

Hi Gavin - we asked our senior collection manager of Geosciences, who says that regulations regarding this vary from state to state. Within Victoria, you need a Miner's Right, and as you say, there are restrictions on export. Here is the government page on recreational prospecting.

Mohammad
29 December, 2014 10:45

Hi, I saw special stones in my home country and the owner tolled me they are meteorites. I got some pictures and a movie of them. Is it possible for you to find out that they are real meteorites from pictures and movie?

Hi Mohammad, our Geology staff need to be able to physically examine the objects, they can't make identifications from images alone.

Al
20 March, 2015 20:20

Hi my father gave me a small stone that my grandfather found in NSW at the turn of the century. He said that it is a Meteorite. It is magnetic does not leave a streak on the back of a tile, but only weighs 9-10 grams. How would I have this confirmed?

Hi Al, you are welcome to bring yor specimen into the Discovery Centre at Melbourne Museum, (open from 10 until 4.30 from Tuesday through Saturday). You would need to leave the specimen with us and we will have our geologist have a look and provide a free identification. The ID can't be done on the spot as the geologists are in a different building.

Ramiz
2 June, 2015 16:23

Hi ! This week I bought the fisher F75 metal detector . Still unsure how it works but had a little play around in my front garden for a few hours to get the hang of it .. While I was digging a horrendous hole in my girlfriends nicely cut grass I came across a rock the size of half an iPhone 5 (quite small) Funny enough it's in the shape of Australia and weighs 180grams wayyyyy too heavy for its size !! Iv tried the magnet test and yes it's very magnetic . I would really like your input on this rock . Thanks :)

Hi, my mom found a metal rock and she thinks it could be a meteorite. if I bring it over to the discovery center for identification purpose, do I get any certificate after if the department examinates its authentic? do I need to donate it to the museum or I can keep it??? Thanks

Hi Zin, you will be provided the details of the identification in writing, but not a certificate as such, and as it is your find it is yours to keep, unless of course you would like to donate it to the museum. You can read the identification guidelines here and the donation guidelines here.

john
31 December, 2015 01:50

I know you have probably answered heaps of these type of questions. but can you some how find old meteorite creators in Victoria using magnetics in a program called geo Vic that covers the whole state of Victoria ? or wouldn't they show up/work ? and for meteorite falls is there any way of trying to locate them besides the ones already listed. and one last question how deep can a meteorite about say 2kg in weight get burred in deep soil loam after sitting on the earth for a long time on a high or low/small hill or just in a flat area like where the Murchison meteorite was found. ?
thank you for your time john : )

Hi John! Our senior collection manager of Geosciences has passed on the following: Many of the more recent maps produced by geological survey of Victoria include some geophysics maps including magnetically and gravity anomaly maps. These are not for the novice. There are many circular structure evident, most are granites which can be a gravity low, magnetic high but the radio metrics show them as granites. There is no evidence of large impact structures in Victoria.

A meteorite of 2 kg will not bury very deep on impact on normal ground unless it is a sand dune.

Ads
8 January, 2016 16:00

Hi I noticed this week the ABC ran a story about the recent meteorite collected by Cutain Uni in Sth Aus Lake Eyre. It got me wondering, does Federal laws stii apply for the protection of meteorites found without a permit etc if it's an Aboriginal person who finds a meteorite on their traditional land i.e. where a Native Title Claim Settlement Indigenous Land Use Agreement (ILUA)exists?